Dictator's youngest son was this week handed top military and party posts

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The front page of North Korea's Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Thursday shows a group photo of senior North Korean officials, including Kim Jong Un. The newspaper identified Kim Jong Un as being second from left in the front row.

The photo's release comes after the younger Kim earlier this week was handed top military and party posts at a Workers' Party conference.

The ascension of Kim Jong Un to a prominent ruling party post put him well on the path to succeed the supreme leader at the helm of nuclear-armed North Korea and carry the family dynasty into a third generation.

Rising with him were the ailing Kim Jong Il's sister and her husband, creating a powerful triumvirate ready to take over the family dynasty that has ruled North Korea since its founding after World War Two.

Kim's Swiss-educated, youngest son was made a four-star general in his first mention in North Korea's state media on Tuesday. Early Wednesday, the communist nation announced that Kim Jong Un was appointed to the Workers' Party Central Committee.

After months of speculation, the state KCNA news agency announced on Wednesday that the untested Kim Jong Un had been made second in command to his father at the ruling party's powerful Central Military Commission.

"It is another step toward a new power structure which will consist of Kim Jong Un, a young and inexperienced dictator, and two people — his aunt and her husband — who will be making all real political decisions while mentoring the young leader," said Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert at Kookmin University. "A figurehead and a couple of powerful regents, if you like."

Kim Jong Il's sister Kim Kyong Hui, 64, retained her position as a department director on the Central Committee and gained a new post as a member of the Central Committee's Political Bureau — the country's second-highest political body. She has risen sharply in prominence in recent months and has been seen frequently at her brother's side.

Her husband was also awarded new political titles. Jang Song Thaek was named an alternate Political Bureau member, KCNA said.

The isolated state's collapsing economy and bid to become a nuclear weapons power pose major threats to the region.

Reuters Tv
/
Reuters

Kim Jong-un (front row, center), youngest son of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il, attends a meeting of the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang September 28, 2010, in this video released on September 30, 2010.

'Military-first' policy
Kim Jong Il has led the nation with absolute authority since taking over in 1994 upon the death of his father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, in the communist world's first father-to-son transfer of power.

Speculation has been brewing about another dynastic succession since the 68-year-old reportedly suffered a stroke in August 2008. There are concerns that his sudden death without a leadership plan in place could spark chaos in the nation of 24 million that he rules under a "military-first" policy.

Kim Jong Un is believed to be only 27 and until this week held no known political or military positions. However, he was always his father's favorite, and the most like him in looks and ambition, the family's former chef wrote in "I Was Kim Jong Il's Cook" under the pen name Kenji Fujimoto.

The son has been kept well under wraps since childhood, and the mere mention of Kim Jong Un's name in state media caused ripples among North Korea watchers looking for confirmation that Kim Jong Il had anointed the young man as his successor.

A stable succession will be a relief to its economically powerful neighbors — China, South Korea and Japan.

But regional powers will be watching for any signs of a change in the policies which have driven the North's economy to near ruin and potential collapse. That would put a huge burden on China and, especially South Korea, which would end up with much of the cost of absorbing a likely flood a refugees.

'Dilemma'
They will also be looking for any change in the reclusive state's efforts to build a nuclear arsenal that has been central to forcing aid out of the outside world even though it has meant sanctions have largely cut it off from the global economy.

Experts are skeptical of any new dawn.

"Even with a new leader, North Korea is not likely to give up its nuclear ambitions," said Anh Yinhay of Korea University. "But the North faces a dilemma — while keeping the reins of power within the family, the North needs to find a way to overcome its economic crisis.

"They have no choice but to rely on aid from other countries, and they may try to use their nuclear weapons as leverage during negotiations."

Financial markets favor a continuation of the current system and relative stability.

"Externally, it's in everyone's best interest to support the status quo," said Shaun Cochran, head of research for brokerage CLSA in Seoul. "Internally it is simpler to avoid conflict.

"There is an argument that there is less political stability now but I would argue there is potentially more simply because we have a direction everyone is aware of."

China, its only powerful friend and main benefactor, said Beijing would "always handle, maintain and boost China-DPRK (North Korea) relations from a strategic height and a long-term perspective ... despite the ups and downs of the international situation."

Video: North Korea debates future leadership

Transcript of: North Korea debates future leadership

MEREDITH VIEIRA, co-host:There is an apparent shift of power taking place in
North Korea
. At that country's biggest political gathering in 30 years,
Kim Jong Il
has now appointed his
youngest son
as a military general.
NBC
's
Ian Williams
is in
Seoul
,
South Korea
, with details.
Ian
, good morning to you.

IAN WILLIAMS reporting:Good morning,
Meredith
. Well,
Kim Jong Il
,
North Korea
's ailing leader, has begun the process of handing control of that impoverished country to his
youngest son
. Appointing to a senior military position his
youngest son
is what's seen as this first step to power. This is thought to be the only known photograph of
Kim Jong Un
, taken when he was about 11. He's now about 28, though nobody knows for sure. The appointment of
Kim Jong Il
's
youngest son
, initially as a four-
star general
, was announced ahead of a workers party meeting in
Pyongyang
today, the biggest in more than 30 years. Few here, let alone outside the country, know anything about the man slated to take this nuclear-armed communist dynasty into a third generation.

Unidentified Man:We just don't know what he looks like, what his personality is like. He does have two older brothers, but I -- you know, the rumor has it that he,
Kim Jong Un
, is the one who is most like his father, which probably is not a very good news for the -- for the world.

WILLIAMS:His father, known in the north as the "
Dear Leader
," is thought to be in poor health after two strokes and may not have much longer to live. In
Seoul
, the capital of
South Korea
, today, the news came as no surprise to defectors, whose broadcasts are
one of the few
sources of outside information to the impoverished north. 'Like father, like son,' said
Jang Hyun Cho
, who fled 10 years ago. Another defector, who didn't want his face shown because he still has family in the north, said he expects the repression to get worse as the
young Kim
builds his power. It's always taken a lot of guesswork trying to figure out precisely what's going on in
North Korea
, which is just across the river from here. Uncertainty over the health of
Kim Jong Il
has already led to arising tensions along this, the world's most fortified border. In March, the north was blamed for the torpedoing of a
South Korean
patrol boat. And there's continued international anxiety over the north's nuclear weapons and missile programs. Its economy remains in dire straits, made worse by recent flooding. Analysts warn that the young and almost totally inexperienced
Kim
might face opposition from factions in the army, especially if his father dies before he can build a power base. For that reason, a takeover by the junior
Kim
may not be a done deal, and we could see some further instability in this dangerous region,
Meredith
.

Happy family

Young student

A1963 photo from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, Kim Jong Il when he was a student of Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang, North Korea.
(Korean Central News Agency via AP)
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Official business

Training exercise

Kim Jong Il leads the firearms training of the February 2nd National Sport Defense team members while he was working at the Central Committee of WPK (Worker's Party of Korea).
(Korean Central News Agency via AP)
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Filmmaking

Father and son

Kim Jong Il was anointed successor to his father, Kim Il Sung, in 1980. Known as the "Great Leader," Kim Il Sung and his son are shown attending a Korean Worker's Party convention in October of that year.
(AFP - Getty Images)
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Family portrait

Kim Jong Il, bottom left, poses memebers of his family in this 1981 photo in Pyongyang, North Korea. Sitting at right is his son, Jong-Nam, Kim's sister-in-law Sung Hye-Rang stands at top left with her daughter Lee Nam-Ok, center and son Lee Il-Nam, top right. While virtually nothing is known about the leader's personal life, an attempt by his first-born son Kim Jong Nam, bottom right, to enter Japan on a false passport in May, 2001, briefly shone a light onto his family's private dealings.
(AFP - Getty Images)
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Applause please

Kim Jong Il meets with Korean People's Army personnel in this Sept., 1988, photo. North Korea is believed to be the most heavily militarized country in the world on a per capita basis.
(AFP)
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Like father, like son

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il stands next to his father, Kim Il Sung, inspecting a football field in Pyongyang.
(AFP - Getty Images)
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Silent famine

Residents of Taziri, North Korea, wait for Red Cross food supplies in December 1995, not long after the death of Kim Il Sung left Kim Jong Il in control of the country. At the time, around 130,000 North Koreans were reportedly on the brink of famine and 500,000 were homeless.
(Calvi Parisetti / AFP - Getty Images)
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Kim looking at things

Frenemies?

South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, right, hugs North Korean leader Kim Jong Il at the end of their summit meeting at the airport in Pyongyang, North Korea. The two leaders held historic talks for three days in June 2000.
(Getty Images)
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A visitor from Russia

Kim Jong Il walks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, as he arrived in Pyongyang in July 2000 for talks on halting North Korea's missile-development program.
(Itar-tass / AFP - Getty Images)
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Toasting the U.S.

Kim Jong Il toasts U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at a dinner in Pyongyang in October 2000. The visit was part of an coordinated effort by Washington and its allies South Korea and Japan to end the country's isolation.
(Chien-min Chung / AFP - Getty Images)
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A giant leader

A portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il displayed at an entrance of the foreign ministry in Pyongyang August 2002.
(Shingo Ito / AFP/Getty Images)
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Welcoming Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, left, shakes hands with Kim Jong Il after signing a joint statement at the end of a one-day summit in Pyongyang on Sept. 17, 2002. North Korea admitted to kidnapping Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s and using them to train spies.
(AFP)
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Crowds in the square

In January 2003, more than one million people gathered on Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang to hear political leaders hail North Korea's dramatic decision to withdraw from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
(AFP - Getty Images)
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Tearful goodbyes

Emotional South Koreans bid farewell to their North Korean families following a brief reunion in July 2004. The families were separated by the border that was imposed after fighting ended in 1953.
(Getty Images)
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X marks the spot

A South Korean protester holds a picture of Kim Jong Il marked with a cross during a rally in Seoul on July 7, 2006. Demonstrators denounced Pyongyang's test-firing of seven missiles.
(Lee Jin-man / AP)
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Wining and dining

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun joins Kim Jong Il at a farewell lunch in Pyongyang on Oct. 4, 2007, after the two sides signed a pledge to seek a peace treaty to replace the 54-year-old cease-fire that ended the Korean War. With no treaty in place, the two countries technically are still at war.
(AP)
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Military matters

Kim Jong Il visits a military unit in this picture released by North Korea's official news agency on Aug. 11, 2008. It was Kim's last public appearance before intelligence officials suggested he had fallen gravely ill.
(KCNA / Reuters)
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In the public eye again

In this image taken from North Korea's KRT state television, Kim Jong II attends the first session of the Supreme People's Assembly on April 9, 2009, in Pyongyang. It was his first major public appearance since reportedly suffering a stroke in August 2008.
(APTN)
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Paying his respects

A gaunt-looking Kim Jong Il, sitting center in the front row, is surrounded by high-ranking officials during a ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of his father's death on July 8, 2009. Kim Il Sung, who founded North Korea, remains known as the country's"eternal president."
(KCNA via AP)
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Visit from Clinton

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, right, meets with Kim Jong Il, left front, in Pyongyang on Aug. 4, 2009. North Korea pardoned and released two detained U.S. journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, after the meeting.
(AP)
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Calling on a cotton farm

Meet-and-greet

Kim Jong Il waves as people including soldiers applaud during a visit to the construction site of the Kumyagang Army-People Power Station in South Hamgyong Province in an undated picture released by North Korea's Central News Agency in August, 2010.
(AFP - Getty Images)
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China visit

Likely heir

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il, seated at center in sunglasses, and his youngest son Kim Jong Un, seated at left, pose for a photo with the newly elected members of the central leadership body of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and the participants in the WPK Conference, at the plaza of the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang in this picture released by the North's KCNA news agency on Sept. 30, 2010. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il anointed his youngest son as successor this week, promoting him to senior political and military positions.
(KCNA via Reuters)
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Il (2nd L) and his youngest son Kim Jong Un (3rd R from Kim Jong-il) visit the cemetery for Chinese soldiers who died during the 1950-53 Korean War in Hoechang County, North Korea, Oct. 26, 2010, in this picture released by North Korea's official KCNA news agency.
(KCNA / Reuters)
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North Korea leader Kim Jong Il, right, and his son Kim Jong Un attend a massive military parade to mark the 65th anniversary of the communist nation's ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea on Oct. 10, 2010. Kim Jong Il, North Korea's mercurial and enigmatic leader whose iron rule and nuclear ambitions dominated world security fears for more than a decade, has died. He was 69.
(Vincent Yu / AP)
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Pass in review

Kim Jong Il attends a military parade to celebrate the 63rd founding anniversary of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in Pyongyang on September 9, 2011.
(AFP - Getty Images)
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A tearful announcer dressed in black announces the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong il on North Korean State Television on Dec. 19, 2011. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died on a train trip, state television reported on Monday, sparking immediate concern over who is in control of the reclusive state and its nuclear program. The announcer said the 69-year old had died on Saturday of physical and mental over-work on his way to give "field guidance".
(Reuters)
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